Month: June, 2015

As my friend and colleague Zan Rowe reminded us all on Twitter this morning, it’s Mid Year Report time! The radio station I work for, triple j, will spend this week looking back over the musical gems and milestones of the first six months of 2015. I’ve definitely caught myself thinking about how awesome this year has been music-wise so I thought I’d join in and let you know what sounds I’ve been digging.

Deb and her husband Mike lived in Australia for two years but have now settled back home in South Africa. We became friends after meeting at church in Sydney and I was lucky enough to spend two weekends with them in Durban in between Small Town Girl shoots. It was cool to be in the city with a couple of locals who knew their way around and where to get the best coffee (v. important). We visited Deb’s friend Amy Venter who’s a fashion designer and owner of Jane Sews, an artisan clothing, footwear and leather label. She was in the middle of setting up a new space at The Commune I really wanted to buy all of the things – every gorgeous item is designed and made in Durban – but I was traveling with just a backpack and a duffle bag so it wasn’t practical. Thank goodness for online shopping, though, right? On this particular day, Deb was tossing up whether or not to rent a space at The Commune for Bouwer Flowers, her floral design studio. All over South Africa I met passionate artists/designers/musicians/photographers/florists and jewellers creating scenes, working hard and making things happen. A vibrant, cutting edge creative industry is probably not the first thing you think of when someone mentions SA but it soon will be, trust me.

I carry my camera around everywhere and some days I take 10 photos while other days I take zero. It means I end up with quite a mixed bag of shots, some of which I totally forget about until I get the scans back. And so I present to you 20 photos from the last little while…

1. An engagement party at the Grounds of Alexandria 2-6. Do you know Ngaio? You need to know Ngaio. We spent an afternoon together at her place 7-12. With my nieces and my brother in Coffs Harbour a few days after I got back from South Africa 13-15. Maddy + Jake, Christina and Faith + Yudi at their Parkes wedding in early May 16. Brendan just before he moved to Melbourne 17. My best girl, Ali, at Mecca the morning after my exhibition opened 18. Monstera around the pool at my new digs 19. Chloe and Lee trekked out to Vaucluse to visit me and have brunch at The Trail 20. A girl on the train in the morning sun.

I took some of these shots with my Canon 1V and some with my Leica M6 which is now broken, oh so very broken. Kodak Portra 35mm film. Developed and scanned at Richard Photo Lab.

Remember my dear friend and old flatmate Gracie? Well she’s about to become a mama and I couldn’t be more excited. A few Sundays ago my other old flatmate Lydia and her sisters Emily and Charis and I went to Gracie’s house for a little baby shower. However, there were no birth date/weight/gender guessing games or melted chocolate bars in disposable nappies (if you’ve been to more than one baby shower in the last few years you’ll know what THAT’S all about). Instead we made natural moisturisers and an exfoliating scrub. Win! You should totally make this one moisturiser at home. It’s simple, nourishing and smells delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup shea butter

1/2 cup cocoa butter

1/2 cup sweet almond oil

1 vanilla pod

Method:

Combine everything in a saucepan over low heat. Stir frequently and allow the ingredients to melt. Remove from the stove and pour liquid into a bowl. Break the vanilla pod and stir the seeds through the liquid. Put the bowl in the freezer until the liquid is solid (not frozen!). Remove from the freezer and use a hand blender (not to be confused with a hand beater) to whip the ingredients until its consistency is light and fluffy. Slather it on your limbs knowing you’re feeding your skin the good stuff, mmm.

I told you I’d be back soon! Yeah, I know, more pics from summer (I took a whole lot – it was a good one) but it’s a sunny 22 degrees C in Sydney (what winter?) so I was reminded of this glorious Cronulla afternoon with Rachel, Chloe, Lee, Sophie and Maddy.

An old picture taken in my old room late last year (the old days). This room, this time, feels like forever ago. Since moving out of that house I’ve slept in 18 (count ‘em!) different beds and am now settled in just one. Well, more like two.

In 2014 I made a concerted effort to get back into books. Reading is something that brings me great joy and fulfilment but somehow I’d let it slip away. I read 20 books and these are some of them. I was hoping to get through 40 this year but I’m off to a terrible start. I’m part-way through Spinster – Making a Life of One’s Own by Kate Bolick, Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon, Cry of the Kalahari by Mark & Delia Owens and Phenomenal by Leigh Ann Henion.

There are many, many photos I’d like to post and stories I’d like to share but this is it for now. I’ll be back soon, promise.